Method of packing fruits and vegetables



Nov. 3, 1959 A. B. HANDLER METHOD OF PACKING FRUITS AND VEGETABLES Filed May 31, 1956 ALBERT B. HANDLER,

IN VEN TOR. H UEBNE R, BE'EHL ER, WORRE L 8 HERZ/G,

United States Patent ()1 METHOD OF PACKING FRUITS AND VEGETABLES Albert B. Handler, Los Angeles, Calif. Application May 31, 1956, Serial No. 588,400 2 Claims. (Cl. 99-186) This invention relates to an apparatus and method for canning food articles such as fruits and vegetables, and in particular to an envelope or liner for use in combination with a can or jar for pickling or preserving olives, or the like.

In pickling or preserving fruits or vegetables, such as olives, a considerable amount of time and labor normally is required to manually place the food articles into the can or jar and to properly fill the container. In the case of a jar, it is necessary to insure that the packed jar will present an attractive appearance by being fully packed.

When the can or jar is opened so that all or a portion of its contents may be consumed, or served, it is desirable tobe able to rapidly and conveniently remove the preserved food articles, individually or collectively, from the can or jar and to conveniently separate the same from the pickling or preserving juices.

Accordingly, it is an important object of my invention to provide an apparatus and method for pickling or preserving food articles which will permit a saving in time and labor required to pack the food articles into the jar or can before it is sealed.

Another object is to provide such an apparatus and method which will permit the rapid and convenient removal of the pickled or preserved food articles from the jar or can, in whole or in part, for consumption of the same, as well as convenient return of unconsumed material to the jar or can.

A further object is to provide such an apparatus and method which will insure adequate, packing of the jar or can to properly fill the same and thus present, an attractive appearance when displayed to a customer.

Additional objects will become apparent from the following description: I

In general terms, my invention comprehends the provision of a receptacle for pickling or canning fruits or vegetables comprising a container and an apertured liner or envelope for receiving the food articles and subsequent insertion inside the container, such as a jar or can, before the latter is sealed. When a glass, or other type of transparent jar or can is employed, the liner or envelope employed preferably also is transparent.

The apertures in the envelope or liner are made preferably of suflicient Size to permit the pickling or preserving juices to enter the envelope freely and contact its contents, and to drain rapidly from the envelope or liner when it is lifted from the jar or can. The apertures should not be sufficiently large in relation to the food articles to permit them to pass through the apertures from the envelope or liner.

The envelope or liner preferably is flexible and preferably is made of sheet material, such as polyethylene sheet or extruded tubing. It is preferably in the form of a sleeve sealed at one end and open at the other end for convenient packing and insertion into the can or jar, and for convenient folding of excess sleeve material into the top of the can or jar before closing the same.

Patented Nov. 3, 195.

My invention also comprehends the method of' pickling or canning fruits or vegetables. This method comprises packing the food articles into an initially continuous, elongate apertured envelope or liner which is later separated into sausage-like segments and subsequently closed at one end and open at the other end. Thev packed, envelope is divided into sections sealed at a bottom end and open at a top end. The envelope section is made of predetermined length substantially equal to the height of the can or jar to be used by transversely sealing and. severing the packed envelope. The final steps. involve inserting each packed section of envelope or liner inside a jar or can with the sealed bottom end on the bottom of the jar or can, adding canning or pickling juices and sealing the packed jar or can.

A more detailed description of a specific embodiment of my invention, as applied to pickling olives, is given with reference to the drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is an elevational view showing a packed olive jar with a top portion thereof cut away; and

Figure 2 is an elevational view showing an apertured envelope packed with olives for insertion into an olive ar.

The envelope 10 preferably is a sleeve or casing of polyethylene, or similar transparent sheet of plastics material. It preferably is seamless to give a uniform transparent appearance inside olive jar or bottle 11. The diameter of the envelope 10 preferably is somewhat. less than the inside diameter of the bottle 11 so that after: the olives 12 are packed in the envelope it can be con veniently fitted inside the bottle as shown in Figure, l'.

. In the case of polyethylene or similar tough plastics material, the envelope sheet can be made quite thin, such as about 0.002 inch thick, so that it is very flexible and easily folded inside the top of bottle 11 under cap 13, as shown in Figure 1. Cap 13 is shown threaded on the mouth of bottle 11, but it will be understood that other types of caps, such as friction sealed caps, for example, can be used. In the case of metal cans, the tops can be soldered onto the tops of the cans.

The apertures 14 can be cut or formed in the sheet forming the envelope 10 while the sheet or; envelope is being formed, or after it is formed. For example, the apertures 14 can be cut into the collapsed envelope by any suitable roller cutter or reciprocating cutter. Any other suitable method may be used. The size of apertures 14 is made smaller than the olives 12 to retain the olives in the envelope, but is made sufiiciently large to permit rapid drainage of pickling juices from the envelope by gravity. The number and nearness of adjacent apertures are also chosen with this view in mind.

After a length of envelope material or sleeving has been formed, it is divided or cut into sections. Each section is heat-sealed or otherwise closed at one end 18 and left open at the other, or top end 17. The resulting envelope section 10 is then firmly packed with olives 12 to a height substantially equal to, but somewhat less than, the inside height of an olive bottle 11.

The packed envelope is fitted inside the olive bottle. 11 with the sealed end 16 placed above the inside of the bottom 18 of the bottle. Pickling juices then are poured into bottle 11 through open end 17 of packed envelope 10 until the desired level of juices is reached in the bottle packed with the olives. After this level is reached, the flexible top 17 is folded into the mouth of bottle 11, as shown. Cap 13 then is screwed onto the threaded mouth of the bottle to the desired degree of tightness.

Instead of manually cutting the sections of envelope 10 from a length of envelope material, or sleeving, and manually packing the olives 12 into the envelope, the packing and preparation of the packed envelope sections can be done continuously by automatically controlled machinery similar to the machinery in use in the food packaging art.

For example, the apertured envelope material, or sleeving, is fed continuously into a machine (not shown) whileolives 12 are packed by the machine continuously into the moving apertured sleevin g. The sleeving can be heat-sealed shut, or otherwise closed by the machine at the end initially fed thereto to form a bottom sealed end 18. The olive packed sections of the sleeving or envelope material, as they are formed by the machine, may be severed transversely of the sleeving to form an open top end 17. At the same time the sleeving may be transversely heat-sealed, or otherwise closed, by the machine just above the severance line to form a new closed bottom end 18.

The severed, packed envelope section produced by the machine may then be fitted into an olive bottle by the machine. A series of olive bottles may be continuously fed by auxiliary machinery to the main packing machine for this purpose. The packed bottle may then be filled -with pickling juices by machinery and also sealed by machinery after the open envelope top 17 is folded into the bottle, to complete the cycle of operations.

This cycle of operations is automatically repeated continuously by the machinery. The sleeving or envelope material, olives and bottles are fed continuously to the machinery. The envelope section bottom closing, envelope section olive packing, packed envelope section top severance, and bottle filling and sealing operations described above, are performed continuously and automatically by the machinery with a minimum requirement of time or labor. The same machinery also can form the apertures 14 continuously into the sleeving being fed into the machinery.

When it is desired to consume a portion or all of the olives 12, the bottle 11 is opened by removing cap 13. The folded top 17 is unfolded and pulled through the mouth of the bottle. The envelope 10, containing the olives and the pickling juices, is lifted gently out or the bottle as the pickling juices rapidly drain from the olives and the envelope into the partially emptied bottle through apertures 14.

The envelope section It has a V-shaped heat seal that allows some movement of the olives 12 downward when the envelope is pulled from the bottle 11. This relieves some of the pressure of the olives against the sides of the bottle and thus facilitates removal of the olives and envelope from the bottle.

If only a portion of the olives is to be removed from the bottle 11, the envelope is lilted out of the bottle until the desired portion of olives has been lifted above the mouth of the bottle and drained of pickling juices. These olives then are removed from envelope by separating them from the rest of the olives in any suitable manner, such as by squeezing opposite side of the envelope together with the fingers and urging the olives to the open top 17 of the envelope. This action is continued until the desired number of drained olives is expelled from the envelope.

If all of the olives are to be removed from the bottle, the envelope is lifted all the way out of the bottle and held thereover a few seconds to drain the pickling juices back into the bottle. When it is desired to replace olives into the bottle, they are simply returned to the envelope and the envelope is again lowered into the pickling juices in the bottle. The top 17 of the envelope is folded into the mouth of the bottle and the cap is replaced.

It will be understood that although a specific embodiment of my invention has bene described above in connection with the drawing as applied to the pickling of olives, that my invention can also be similarly applied to the pickling of onions, pickles, and the like, and to the preservation of other fruits or vegetables such as cherries, plums, apricots, and the like, and of pieces of fruits or vegetables such as sliced, diced or otherwise subdivided food articles such as peaches, pears, turnips, and the like.

While I have herein shown and described my invention in what I have conceived to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is recognized that departures can be made therefrom, within the scope of my invention, whichis not to be limited to the details disclosed herein, but is to be accorded the full scope of the claims so as to embrace any and all equivalent method and apparatus.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. The method of packing a plurality of olives in a container containing preserving liquid and removing olives therefrom comprising firmly packing a plurality of said olives with spaces therebetween for liquid, in an envelope of flexible plastic sheet material open at the top, closed at the bottom and provided with a plurality of apertures sufliciently large for rapid flow of said liquid therethrough but smaller than said olives; placing said envelope in closely conforming relationship within a substantially rigid outer container, substantially filling said container with said liquid through the open top of said envelope, and sealing said container whereby removal of said olives in part is allowed by unsealing the container, lifting the envelope and allowing the liquid to drain back into the container, separating the olives to be removed from the remainder thereof, replacing the envelope in the container and re-sealing the container.

2. The method of packing a plurality of food articles, from the class consisting of fruits and vegetables, in a container containing preserving liquid and removing food articles therefrom comprising firmly packing a plurality of said food articles with spaces therebetween for liquid, in an envelope of flexible plastic sheet material open at the top, closed at the bottom and provided with a pinrality of apertures sufficiently large for rapid flow of said liquid therethrough but smaller than said food articles; placing said envelope in closely conforming relationship within a substantially rigid outer container, substantially filling said container with said liquid through the open top of said envelope, and sealing said container whereby removal of said food articles in part is allowed by unsealing the container, lifting the envelope and allowing the liquid to-drain back into the container, separating the food articles to be removed from the remainder thereof, replacing the envelope in the container and re-sealing the container.

References Cited in the file of this patent V UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,044,245 Irons June 16, 1936 2,600,216 Dennison June 10, 1952 2,605,187 Stiehm July 29, 1952 2,664,358 Eichler Dec. 29, 1953 2,669,351 Carson et al Feb. 16, 1954 OTHER REFERENCES Modern Packaging, May 1954, article entitled Polyethylene as a Food Film, pp. -158, 230 and 233 (pp. 157-158 only relied on). 

1. THE METHOD OF PACKING A PLURALITY OF OLIVES IN A CONTAINER CONTAINING PRESERVING LIQUID AND REMOVING OLIVES THEREFROM COMPRISING FIRMLY PACKING A PLURALITY OF SAID OLIVES WITH SPACES THEREBETWEEN FOR LIQUID, IN AN ENVELOPE OF FLEXIBLE PLASTIC SHEET MATERIAL OPEN AT THE TOP, CLOSED AT THE BOTTOM AND PROVIDED WITH A PLURALITY OF APERTURES SUFFICIENTLY LARGE FOR RAPID FLOW OF SAID LIQUID THERETHROUGH BUT SMALLER THAN SAID OLIVES; PLACING SAID ENVELOPE IN CLOSELY CONFORMING RELATIONSHIP WITHIN A SUBSTANTIALLY RIGID OUTER CONTAINER, SUBSTANTIALLY FILLING SAID CONTAINER WITH SAID LIQUID THROUGH THE OPEN TOP OF SAID ENVELOPE, AND SEALING SAID CONTAINER WHEREBY REMOVAL OF SAID OLIVES IN PART IS ALLOWED BY UNSEALING THE CONTAINER, LIFTING THE ENVELOPE AND ALLOWING THE LIQUID TO DRAIN BACK INTO THE CONTAINER, SEPARATING THE OLIVES TO BE REMOVED FROM THE REMAINDER THEREOF, REPLACING THE ENVELOPE IN THE CONTAINER AND RE-SEALING THE CONTAINER. 